US children eat as much salt as adults, which is about 1,000 milligrams too much, the equivalent of a McDonald's Big Mac hamburger or rasher or bacon, new research has found.

Researchers from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention asked 6,200 children between the ages of eight to 18 their food intake from the previous day.

The recommended intake of sodium for children and adults is less than one teaspoon per day, or an estimated 2,300 milligrams. However, the study found that on average, the children were consuming 3,300 milligrams daily.

It was also discovered that 15 per cent of participants had either high blood pressure or slightly elevated blood pressure – prehypertension.

Children who ate the highest amount of salt were twice as likely to suffer from prehypertension compared to consumers with a lower salt intake.

Researchers also found that the risk among overweight or obese children was more than three times as likely to suffer from elevated blood pressure.

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Quanhe Yang from the CDC in Atlanta, who worked on the study, which was published in the journal of Pediatrics, said: "Kids are consuming as much sodium as adults, which far exceeds the recommended amount."

High blood pressure puts humans at risk factors for cardiovascular problems such as heart attacks and strokes, according to researchers.

Dr Frederick Kaskel, Chief of paediatric nephrology at Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York, said: "Our American diet clearly is very high in sodium."

"Not only is the high sodium something to be avoided, but it is also indicative of an unhealthy diet."